Making guides introduction

This section of the website is focused on the skills you need to set up and run a radio station, or to host your own show. The aim isn’t to go through each skill step-by-step – but to outline the things you’ll need to be aware of, and give you the tools to get started and to start figuring out what works for you. The aim is to help YOU become the expert.

There are three subsections: ‘Geeking out’, ‘Making radio’ and ‘Making a difference’.

‘Geeking out‘ is for technical guides – such as the basics of recording audio, using a microphone, editing audio.

‘Making radio‘ deals with how to put a radio show together – including tips for doing good interviews, thoughts on making engaging shows, as well as thinking about diversity and ‘voice’.

‘Making a difference‘ focuses on the things you might need to think about as you become more serious about a career in radio. We also try to put broadcasting laws and guidelines in practical terms: what issues might be useful for you to be aware of when putting a show together.

Overall, we hope that these resources will give you starting points to get stuck in and find out what does and doesn’t work for you, for your audience, and/or in the context in which you work.

Getting started working in community radio

Here’s a short video on getting started in community radio – as a presenter, producer…

And here’s a video showing a group of students in Preston getting their first experience of presenting on air.

Here’s a group of young people making radio with SHMU FM in Aberdeen. They had to start somewhere, and now they’re full of confidence – and fully competent!

Finally, on the technical side, look at this video by a sound recordist and sound editor with BBC radio. There are some interesting tips here that might get you thinking about what is involved in this process (though bear in mind that this is a sophisticated operation – you probably won’t have the resources at the BBC’s disposal!)